First comes the epic storm and then comes the…mega-mergers? Less than 24 hours after a sizable chunk of the country was plunged into watery darkness, the Walt Disney Company announced its plan to acquire George Lucas‘s Lucasfilm in a stock and cash deal valued at $4.05 billion. Included in the deal are rights to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and Lucasfilm’s post-production powerhouses Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound.

So how did the deal-savvy Disney execs (see also: Pixar, Marvel) get to the magic number of $4.05 billion? “Our valuation focused almost entirely on the financial potential of the Star Wars franchise, which we expect to provide us with a stream of storytelling opportunities for years to come delivered via all relevant platforms on a global basis,” said Disney CFO Jay Rasulo in a statement that included news of the company’s plan to release Star Wars Episode 7 in 2015, with more feature films to follow under the watchful eye of Star Wars “brand manager” (and soon-to-be Lucasfilm president) Kathleen Kennedy.
Back in New York, apparel giant PVH, another company that knows its way around a megabrand integration (Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger), announced this morning that it will pony up nearly $3 billion in cash and stock to acquire Warnaco, the licensee behind Calvin Klein jeans and underwear, among other branded merch. “Having direct global control of the two largest apparel categories for Calvin Klein will allow us to unlock additional growth potential of this powerful designer brand across all major product categories, geographies, and distribution channels,” said PVH CEO Emanuel Chirico in a statement announcing the deal, which is expected to close early next year.

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